Portsmouth routs Goffstown for second straight D-III title

Sunday

Nov 18, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By DAN DOYONPortsmouth Herald

PORTSMOUTH — Shortly after finding out his team would host Saturday’s Division III football championship game against Goffstown, Portsmouth High School junior quarterback Donovan Phanor imagined what the atmosphere would be like for the Clippers’ first home title game in 36 years.

There wasn’t a need for a spark to light the frenzy at Tom Daubney Field, but Phanor still delivered an electrifying performance on the biggest stage.

In his second game back since returning from a knee injury, Phanor accounted for 358 offensive yards and had a hand in four touchdowns as third-seeded Portsmouth beat No. 4 Goffstown, 54-27, for its second straight championship.

Portsmouth (9-2 overall, 8-2 in Division III) led 20-14 at halftime and broke the game open by outscoring Goffstown 21-0 in the third quarter.

Phanor completed 9-of-16 passes for 180 yards, including two touchdown strikes to senior Colin MacDonald. Phanor also ran for 178 yards and two touchdowns, while MacDonald had six catches for 151 yards.

“The offense hasn’t been scoring that many points this year and to put up 54, it’s incredible,” Phanor said. “I knew that today we had to score points. We had the mindset going into this week that nothing was going to stop us.”

The Clippers were coming off a 7-0 victory against No. 2 Milford in last week’s semifinals, while Goffstown (6-6, 6-4) upset top-seeded Souhegan in overtime, 54-53.

After losing to Souhegan in three straight Division III championship games from 2008-10, Portsmouth beat Bedford, 41-6, in last year’s final. This is the first time Portsmouth has won back-to-back championships since 1976-77.

“We were hoping to get a second one, but we knew the second one would be more difficult than the first,” Portsmouth coach Bill Murphy said. “The kids were prepared to face an explosive team and we were able to come out on the plus side today.”

Phanor’s day seemed nearly perfect, but one mistake helped Goffstown take a 7-0 lead two minutes into the game. Goffstown’s Ryan Pinard intercepted Phanor on the third play from scrimmage, setting up a 9-yard touchdown run by quarterback Connor Benjamin.

The teams traded scores after that, with Phanor’s 10-yard touchdown run tying the game and Ashton Florence’s 48-yard touchdown catch putting Goffstown back in front.

From there, it was all Portsmouth.

Jake Becker’s 2-yard touchdown run tied the game at 14-all with 40 seconds left in the first quarter, and the Clippers scored 34 unanswered points to take a 41-14 lead after three. The passing game heated up in the second quarter, with Phanor hitting MacDonald for a 35-yard touchdown play that gave Portsmouth a 20-14 halftime lead.

“I can’t even describe it, we just clicked,” MacDonald said. “We just exploded like a volcano; it was unreal. I think today I took advantage of the size difference and Donovan was clicking on all cylinders.”

The Clippers’ defense stepped up in the third quarter, as Nate McFarland intercepted Benjamin and returned the ball 27 yards to the Goffstown 23-yard line. Becker found the end zone on the next play to give Portsmouth a 27-14 lead.

Phanor helped Portsmouth pad its cushion with a 1-yard touchdown run and a 26-yard scoring pass to MacDonald that made it 41-14 with 18 seconds left in the third quarter. This game followed a similar script to the regular-season meeting, in which Goffstown went up 10-0 before suffering a 56-22 loss on the same field.

“We fought hard; I’m proud with how the kids played,” Goffstown coach Justin Hufft said. “We just ran into a better football team today. (Phanor) made a lot of plays and we had a hard time stopping him.”

Benjamin came up with Goffstown’s biggest play of the day, a 55-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies attempted an onside kick, but Portsmouth recovered and Phanor promptly scampered 54 yards to the Goffstown 1. Dillon Crosby took it into end zone for a 48-20 lead with 10:07 remaining, and the celebration was on.

“Donovan is a heck of an athlete,” Murphy said. “He’s had a couple health issues this year, but he’s a competitor and the coaches called good plays for him. He was able to execute the plays, and that’s how you win games.”

Clippers sophomore Mikel Toar capped the scoring with a 51-yard touchdown run with 6:27 remaining.

Portsmouth senior lineman Rick Holt said this year’s journey to the title was a perfect finish to his football career.

“I think this is a lot better than the first one, even though I didn’t think this could beat the first one,” Holt said. “If you’ve got to wait 30 years to win two championships, I’ll take that.”

Phanor said Saturday’s atmosphere exceeded his expectations and helped the Clippers sail to another title.

“I wasn’t ready for all that,” Phanor said. “Every time there was a huge play, they stood behind us and pushed us through everything.”